Finnlines

Finnlines Plc [2] is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Celtic Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Baltic and the North Sea. Finnlines’ passenger-freight vessels offer services from Finland to Germany and via Åland to Sweden as well as from Sweden to Germany. The Company has subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. In addition to sea transportation, the Company provides port services in Finland in Helsinki and Turku.

Finnlines’ roll-on/roll-off services cover the Finnish ports of Hanko, Helsinki, Kotka, Turku and Uusikaupunki, offering connections with Swedish, Polish, German, Danish, British, Dutch, Belgian, Irish, and Spanish ports.

Three Star-class ropax vessels (see ) operate between Helsinki and Travemünde. For passengers it is the only direct connection by sea between Finland and Continental Europe.

The other ropax services consist of the route between Malmö, Sweden, and Travemünde, Germany and between Naantali and the Åland Islands, Finland, and Kapellskär, Sweden.

History

1947–1977

1977–1987

The new, large, fast GTS Finnjet was delivered to Finnlines in May 1977,[11] replacing both of the old ferries on the route. With her 31-knot top speed the Finnjet was able to cross the Baltic in a mere 22 hours, and her accommodations were superior to those of any ferry of the day. Unfortunately she had also been designed before the oil crisis, meaning her operational costs were much higher than originally planned.[7] After delivery of the Finnjet, the Finlandia was rebuilt into the cruise ship MS Finnstar, becoming Finnlines' first (and to date last) genuine cruise ship. The Finnstar's service was cut short by the Finnish maritime worker's strike of 1980, as result of which she ceased service and was laid up in Barcelona. In May 1981 she was sold to the Loke Shipping Co.[12] In October of the same year, the Finnjet was rebuilt with additional diesel engines, allowing for more economic operations during the off-season.[7]

In 1982, the first of the new jumbo-roll-on/roll-off ships was built for the Finland-United Kingdom run. Four sister ships were built over the next decade.[7] Also in 1982, Enso-Gutzeit decided to give up its shipping activities and as a result 75% of Finnlines was sold to other shipping companies. All Enso-Gutzeit ships sailing for Finncarriers were sold to Effoa or Neste Oy and all of Enso-Gutzeit's shares of Finncarriers were sold to Effoa. Finncarriers thus became a subsidiary of Effoa.[6] Several mergers followed during the 1980s when Effoa merged various other companies it completely or partially owned into Finncarriers.[7] In 1986 Enso-Gutzeit finally bowed out of shipping activities completely when they sold their remaining share of GTS Finnjet (25%) to Effoa, who transferred the ship into the fleet of their other subsidiary Silja Line.[11] In the same year a new company, Finnlink, was founded to operate freight between Finland and Sweden. The company's owners were mainly the same as the owners of Finnlines, and Finnlines itself owned 15% of Finnlink.[6]

foundation	1947
location city	Helsinki, Finland
key people	Tom Pippingsköld, President and CEO
industry	Shipping
area served	Northern Europe
services	Freight transport Short sea shipping
revenue	€736.1 million (2022) ‡R1R‡
operating income	€133.3 million (2022) ‡R1R‡
num employees	1,679 (2022)
parent	Grimaldi Group
homepage	www.finnlines.com

History

1947–1977

1977–1987

1987–2002

2002–present

Services

Freight/passenger services

Freight services

Rosslare-Zeebrugge

Helsinki–Gdynia

Helsinki–Aarhus

Rosslare-Zeebrugge

Helsinki–Gdynia

Helsinki–Aarhus

Future Fleet

Former Fleet

External links

References